Short video of the material changing solid states (via University of Minnesota)
Over half of all energy produced is lost as waste heat, 55% according to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A new contender is here to help us recoup a bit of that percentage.
From the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering combined several materials at the atomic level to create an alloy that indirectly converts waste heat to electricity. The result was a multiferroic alloy, a single phase material that possess two or more primary ferroic properties at the same time. In this case, the multiferroic label is applied to the materials ability to switch from one solid to another changing its magnetic properties.
The alloy, Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10 , begins as a non-magnetic solid. As the alloy absorbs heat it becomes magnetic, and increases its strength as the heat rises. In an experiment at the UM lab, the material was placed inside a coil. As the heat rose, current was induced in the surrounding coil as the material became magnetic. Once the material cools, it reverts back to its original non-magnetic form, in other words the process is reversible. Some heat energy is lost in hysteresis, but the team has minimized the effects. No statement from the team on how to maintain the current from with a constant heat source.
Project leader professor Richard James said, "This research is very promising because it presents an entirely new method for energy conversion that's never been done before. It's also the ultimate 'green' way to create electricity because it uses waste heat to create electricity with no carbon dioxide."
Professor James is working with UM researchers Vijay Srivastava, Kanwal Bhatti, and Ph.D student Yintao Song. Currently the team is working with UM chemical engineering and materials science professor Christopher Leighton on a thin film version of the material for capturing waste heat in computers.
Eavesdropper
